How Do Religion and Sexual Orientation Affect Support for U.S. Presidential Candidates? Evidence from a Survey Experiment

A growing body of research has examined how candidates’ religion or sexual orientation affect voting likelihood among the U.S. public. No systematic study, however, has focused on the combined effect of these traits. We draw on the intersectionality literature to develop and test hypotheses for this neglected, but important, combination. Results from an original survey experiment conducted in late June 2019 demonstrate that all respondents, as well as the Republican subgroup, tend to disapprove of a gay, religious candidate relative to other options (i.e., gay, nonreligious; straight, religious; and straight, nonreligious). Even Democrats expressed little support except when a straight, religious candidate was the alternative. Our findings underscore the need to study how overlapping—rather than discrete—traits influence political views and behaviors. They also raise important questions about the future of U.S. identity politics. Efforts to rally Republican and Democrat voters by mixing particular types of traits may not be a very effective strategy.     

Validation d’une mesure d’orientations envers les buts au travail auprès de participants à une évaluation du potentiel et des compétences

IntroductionGoal orientations are a characteristic of the personality explaining different reactions in achievement and learning situations. So far, no French instrument exists to measure this variable in a professional context.ObjectiveThe purpose of this article is to validate a French translation of the VandeWalle instrument (1997) measuring goal orientation at work, with a sample of workers participating in a potential and skills assessment (PSA).MethodThe instrument has been translated using the parallel-blind method suggested by Usunier (1992) and adapted by Lauzier and Haccoun (2010). Confirmatory factorial analyses were conducted to verify the factor structure of the translated version and correlational analyses were performed to assess its nomological validity. The study was conducted with workers (n = 263) from various organizational backgrounds who were subjected to a PSA.ResultsThe three-dimensional factor structure of the Work Goal Orientation Scale (WGOS), consistent with the one proposed by VandeWalle (1997), shows a good fit to the data. The learning, performance-approach and performance-avoidance orientations mainly show the expected associations with three correlates: self-esteem, the anticipated benefits of the PSA and the intention to develop one's skills following the feedback.ConclusionThe measure has a satisfactory nomological validity and can be used to study people's reactions towards learning situations in the workplace.     

Do they know how hard I work? Investigating how implicit/explicit achievement orientation,reputation, and political skill affect occupational status

Researchers have yet to precisely test the Socioanalytic proposition that social skill moderates the personality identity–personality reputation relationship. Further, although research has found personality to have both explicit and implicit aspects, scholars have not examined these differences with respect to the Socioanalytic perspective on personality. The present study investigates how explicit and implicit achievement orientation identities relate to one’s reputation for that trait in the workplace and to career success, as measured by occupational status. We propose that explicit and implicit achievement orientation, political skill and their interplay positively relate to reputation of achievement orientation at work, which, in turn, is positively related to occupational status. We found that (1) both explicit and implicit achievement orientation were positively associated with its reputation, as rated by co-workers; (2) reputation mediated both relations between implicit/explicit achievement orientation and occupational status and (3) heightened political skill strengthened the relationship between explicit achievement orientation and its reputation, as well as its indirect effect on occupational status via reputation (first stage moderated mediation). Our research provides a potential explanation for why observer ratings of personality are more strongly associated with outcomes than self-ratings: Observers perceive both implicit and explicit personality behaviours.     

Loneliness and Suicidal Risk in Young Adults: Does Believing in a Changeable Future Help Minimize Suicidal Risk Among the Lonely?

This study examined loneliness and future orientation as predictors of suicidal risk, namely, depressive symptoms and suicide ideation, in a sample of 228 college students (54 males and 174 females). Results of regression analyses indicated that loneliness was a significant predictor of both indices of suicidal risk. The inclusion of future orientation was found to significantly augment the prediction model of both depressive symptoms and suicide ideation, even after accounting for loneliness. Noteworthy, beyond loneliness and future orientation, the Loneliness × Future Orientation interaction term was found to further augment both prediction models of suicidal risk. Consistent with the notion that future orientation is an important buffer of suicidal risk, among lonely students, those with high future orientation, compared to low future orientation, were found to report significantly lower levels of depressive symptoms and suicide ideation. Some implications of the present findings for studying both risk and protective factors associated with suicidal risk in young adults are discussed.